I'm a new yorkie owner who needs some advice!

[Rocky's Mommy]

Hi all,

I decided to join these forums because everytime I looked for advice online it brought me to this site. It must be that you guys know what you are talking about!

My husband and i are new yorkie owners as of two weeks ago. Our little guy, Rocky, is 9 weeks old and as cute as can possibly be. We are, however, having some issues with him. He is such a biter!!! He bites our arms and feet in particular and he bites very hard! I think that he is just playing but I am somewhat concerned because he does growl while he is biting (which still could be part of play) but also when we say "no bite" and remove him from biting us he gets more mad and his growling gets worse. We have tried so many different things such as "no bite" and giving him something good to chew on, making the hurt noises, batting his nose a little bit.... None of it seems to work, it only seems to make him want to bite more. He attaches himself to our socks and slides across the floor with us. I am worried that maybe this isn't normal puppy behavior and he is being slightly aggressive. I don't want it to develop into something more.

Also, it is not possible to hold him in our arms calmly MOST of the time. If we hold him a certain way and say settle, we can get him to calm for a few minutes but shortly after that he will be squirming and mouthing again. We just want to be able to hold and cuddle our little baby!

He seems to be obedient in other areas. He's come very far with paper training (because it's too cold in NY to take him outside right now) and he has learned to sit and touch.

Now it's possible that I'm being a worrywart as I've never trained a puppy completely on my own before, but I feel like I need some e expert or at least experienced advice. If you have any suggestions or feel like you can shed any light on our situations we would be so grateful!!! We love Rocky so much and want him to be happy with us!

Thanks,
Karen

[LIL MIS' MAGIC]

First let me welcome you to Yorkietalk....we are glad that you decide to enjoy this wonderful site...Second the biting is totally normal...our Sailor is 3 months and she loves to bite as well...she is constantly biting something and will attach to our pant legs as much as she can...our older one Magic went through the same thing...and over time she just stopped and now loves to lick, lick, lick...it took a lot of work and alot of "No"...but after a while she got the picture...I think it all has to do with age...just stay with something and eventually he is learn and will start to be the sweetest thing...hope you enjoy your little one...they sure are cute!!!

[schatzie]

Hi to you Karen and your little boy Rocky. (love the name)....I will be the first to admit I am NO EXPERT but I will try to give you what advise I can on your little one.

Right now he is so little bitty and young. Give him time and most likely he will cuddle with you for longer periods. Right now the world is all new to him and he wants to go explore it all.

When you are playing or cuddleing with him and he begins to bite or do a behavior you do not approve of, ignore him. Walk away from him. He will soon realize "heah, wait Mom and Dad where ya going?" Soon he will figure out that it is his bad behavior that is stopping his attention getting.

Also crate training works wonders. It gives them security and comfort when they are due for some quiet time.

I am thrilled that you found us. We all here love this site and enjoy hearing stories of everybody's Yorkies and share pictures. If you have some pictures you'd like to share of Rocky please do so.

[Rocky's Mommy]

Thanks guys for your advice already. This is such a wonderful resource! I just wanted to let you know that we have tried the ignoring thing and what he does is he chases us and attaches himself to our feet making it impossible to walk or run away from him. It is humorous to me while I'm typing it to you, but at the time it feels frustrating. As for crate training, we do crate him, but during the day since we both work we have a play pen for him so that he has a little bit of room to run and play and also so that he can go to the bathroom on the papers in it. At night he sleeps in the crate. Do you think having the playpen for him instead of just a crate is a bad idea?

Karen

[Marie]

:Puppy: Hello Rocky and mom, welcome to YT. Regarding the biting i can say that Gucci when thru that also. She is now 7 months and she has finally stop the biting. I guess consistency is imporatnt. Keep telling him no and keep doing what you are doing. I dont know nuch about crate training because I haven't try it but I know a lot members here swear by it. I guess every yoirkie is different. Different things work in different ways. Good luck and once again welcome. I will like to see a pic of your little one. We all here love pics.

[troubletb]

I didn't crate my Bell, but wish I had. Bell was trained to use a bell hung on a string on the door knob. She is usually pretty good. But shes 2 years old now and still has accidents. Mostly when we are not home. Crates are the best (I think) if you give him a playpen then there will be too much room and he'll end up messing in one corner and still have plenty of room to play in the other.(the reason why crates work so well, is because dogs don't like to mess where they sleep) Oh and the biting thing Bell did it too!! But it stopped!! But she was terrible with her chewing, (I guess she was teething) Hope Rocky isn't as bad. Bell started chewing on everything, my fireplace mantle, the walls, furniture, I mean everything!! She even dug a few holes in the laundry room walls (where I kept her)..Another reason why creates are great, they can't do all the bad things!! Hope you have better luck then I did!

[Rocky's Mommy]

Hi again,

In the playpen Rocky uses the paper EVERY single time. He never messes on the carpet in the pen or in his crate which is attached to the pen. Now out of the pen, that's a slightly different story... but he's getting better. I only worry about leaving him for 8 hours all day by himself in his crate after just having slept through the night. That is why we went with the playpen idea. Do most people who work leave their pup in the crate all day?

Also, the biting is not just annoying nagging biting... it's painful biting combined with growling which is what I'm worried about. Is the growling typical? When he is corrected he growls and bites more. I was thinking of puppy kindergarten... does anyone have any thoughts on this in regards to training and socialization?

Thanks again for all of your advice so far!

Karen

[chachi]

My Chachi is 8 weeks and biting and chewing also. I have read so many good things about greenie. I am planning on buying some and try to offer him one when he starts the biting. Its a game with my dog. He just keeps chewing trying to get me to play with him that way. Maybe by offering something else to chew on you can get the biting stopped.

[aimee]

Hello and welcome to YT!

I for one really think "puppy kindergarten" or puppy training classes are a great idea for a puppy. As soon as my youngest, Tia gets the rest of her shots, I am signing her up!

As to the rest, I don't really have anything to add. The biting is annoying, but unfortunately it's how they play. If Tia bites, I YELP like a dog in pain would and she quits it right away. That's what is working for us so far

[bld2751]

My Hercules is 6 months, and he's still bitey. I think it's a combination of playing and teething. It's gotten better, but it's definitely still there.

Here's another way of thinking about the biting issue - when puppies are with their litter and they bit their brother or sister too hard when playing, they "victim" will yelp and walk away; they won't play with the "culprit" anymore. So maybe try yelling "no" or "ow" and remove yourself from him. They learn from the litter that way.

Good luck!

[StephandGreg]

My husband and I are also new to YorkieTalk and just got Paisley two days ago. We LOVE him...however, he too is a HUGE toe biter We are trying to be consistant with no, but it is so annoying He's doing o.k with the "potty pads" (it has ONLY been two days). Also, I hate hearing him cry when he doesn't see us, or when we are practicing with the crate. Anyone have any suggestions with the whole crate thing....BTW, our first vet appointment is in two hours

Thanks!
Steph

[CC's]

Biting manners is one of the things the Dam teaches a pup that stays with the breeder until 10-12 weeks.

At this point I would try the high pitch "yip" showing it hurt, and then "growl" in a deep voice "no bite" every time he bites you.

He is still very young and learning so you don't want to scare him badly. He is actually at a fear stage age. When he is finished with his shots you may want to put him in puppy classes.

Also as a heads up, be very careful sounds like he maybe one of those famous Yorkie leapers who will jump right out of your hands and hurt himself.

[Rocky's Mommy]

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. In response to CC's last post, do you think I should continue to use the "yip" followed by "no bite" even if it seems to have no effect or seems to egg him on? He growls and becomes more into his biting with any sort of reprimand. So far nothing has stopped him from biting even momentarily. Do you think he will catch on eventually? The biting is painful... his little teeth are like needles. He's darn lucky I love him so much

Karen

[CC's]

I would continue to use it. You really want to lower the pitch of your voice when you tell him no bite. Almost a real growl tone.

You can also hold his snout with your fingers so he knows what you mean. Not roughly just make a circle with your thumb and pointer finger around his snout so he knows this is where his problem is.

He may have an alpha personality and you will have to take that job from him. Try laying him on his back and see if he lays there for you. If he fights, kicks and squirms for more than 30 seconds he probably has an alpha personality.

[Marie]

I agredd with CC. it wouldnt hurt keep training her with the No bite etc. He wil get it eventually. These dogs are very smart. Also probably she has an Alpha personality like CC said. So you need to teach her now. I had the same problem with Gucci. It took us a while but she has finally stop with the biting a 85%. She still bites sometimes but not as hard and she wil stop when i say no biting. Good luck.